Roller screen assembly for an aperture

ABSTRACT

A roller screen assembly for an aperture, the assembly including a spring returned roller and a flexible glazing screen wound thereon. Also included is a headboard and sealing member closing a gap between the headboard and screen. The assembly further includes a bottom strip adapted to engage the lower edge of the screen and to temporarily retain the same. Side channels, which receive the lateral edges of the screen, extend from the headboard to the bottom strip at each side of the screen. The headboard, bottom strip, and side channel form a frame for the screen when in its extended position.

United States Patent 11 1 Sandall 1451 May 13, 1975 ROLLER SCREENASSEMBLY FOR AN 1,911,232 5/1933 Large 160/266 2,352,609 7/1944 Bates160/271 APERTURE 2,756,438 7/1956 Soberman 160/23 R Inventor: RonaldErnest a l, y es y; 3,292,685 12/1966 Clark 160 26 England [73]Assignee: Beauty Blinds Limited, Winslow, Primary Karl England Attorney,Agent, or Firm-Bacon & Thomas [22] Filed: July 30, 1973 [57] ABSTRACT[21] Appl. No.: 383,477

A roller screen assembly for an aperture, the assembly 0 including aspring returned roller and a flexible glazing Foreign Appllcauon PnornyData screen wound thereon. Also included is a headboard Aug. 4, 1972United Kingdom 36521/72 and sealing member closing a gap between theheadboard and screen. The assembly further includes a 60/l 1; 160/242;bottom strip adapted to engage the lower edge of the 160/290 screen andto temporarily retain the same. Side chan- [51] Int. Cl E06b 9/17 nels,which receive the lateral edges of the screen, ex- [58] Field of Search160/23, 26, 242, 266, 271, tend from the headboard to the bottom stripat each 160/11, 290, 267, 268, 270, 272, 273 side of the screen. Theheadboard, bottom strip, and side channel form a frame for the screenwhen in its [56] References Cited extended position.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 1,595,234 8/1926Kuyper 160/242 X i l m uv 73 74 7 75 M P 6 l 9 1 3 l r L t 47 77'PATENTED MAY 1 3% 3; 882.921

sum 10F 5 PATENTED HAY l 3 I975 SHEET 2 BF 3 ROLLER SCREEN ASSEMBLY FORAN APERTURE This invention relates to a roller screen assembly for anaperture and particularly to such an assembly for providing atransparent screen on the inside of a window to effect double glazing ofthe window aperture.

It is increasingly being realised that the double glazing of windowapertures produces beneficial results, particularly from the point ofview of providing thermal insulation, thereby maintaining thetemperature of the interior of a building to an acceptable level andreducing heating costs. Double glazing is also advantageous from thepoint of view of excluding draughts and noise. Many modern buildings arefitted with double glazing on erection, but there are many buildingswhich at the moment are single glazed and where it would be desirable toprovide a second glazing.

There are several known methods of providing a second glazing forexisting windows, and these range from a simple panel of transparentmaterial mounted within a frame which is made to the precise shape ofthe window aperture so that the framemay fit within this aperture andprovide the second glazing to the many sophisticated types of secondglazing comprising sliding panels which are dismountable, and which runin tracks fitted with sealing strips. However, all of the knownconstructions present certain disadvantages, for example, they areusually costly to manufacture and install and- /or they are not readilymountable and dismountable so that cleaning of the glazing is difficultand/or they are not efficient in providing a thermal barrier or draughtexcluder.

It is the main object of this invention to provide a roller screenassembly which may be used as a second glazing in a window aperturewhich is simple to manufacture and install and which is very readilymoved to the glazing position or moved to an inoperative position.

According to the present invention there is provided a roller screenassembly for an aperture, including a spring returned roller and aflexible glazing screen wound thereon, a headboard, a sealing memberclosing the gap between the headboard and the screen, a bottom stripadapted to be engaged by and temporarily retain the lower edge of thescreen and side channels extending from the headboard to the bottomstrip at each side of the screen into which channels the screen extends,the headboard, bottom strip and side channels forming a frame for thescreen when in its extended position.

The roller may be urged by resilient means so as to maintain theoutermost turn of the screen in contact with the sealing member. Theroller may be provided with coaxial trunnions carried in slots at eachend to enable the roller to move towards and away from the sealingmember under the influence of the resilient means.

The said sealing member may be in the form of a sliding plate whichextends from one side channel to the other and from the headboard tobear against the screen, or the sealing member may be in the form of apivoted plate hingedly mounted to the headboard along one longitudinaledge, the other longitudinal edge bearing against the outermost turn ofthe screen on the roller.

The assembly may include a secondary roller positioned adjacent andparallel to the said spring returned roller over which secondary rollerthe screen extends before it passes downwardly to form the secondglazing.

As will be appreciated from the above, the screen assembly of thepresent invention is simple to fit either into the aperture of a windowrecess or on the face of the wall within which the window aperture to bescreened is located, so that the screen when in its extended positioncovers the window aperture.

It will also be appreciated that the assembly according to the inventionis not only useful as a second glazing for windows, but may also be usedto provide a screen to prevent the passage of flying insects and/or dustparticles and may be used in place of a door or other type of screen,and may be used as a partition where some form of barrier is to beprovided by the partition.

In order to illustrate the invention, reference will now be made to theaccompanying drawings, which illustrate three embodiments. In thedrawings;

FIG. 1 is a part sectional side elevation of a rolle screen assemblyconstructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a part sectional plan view of the assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional side view of the lower part of the assembly ofFIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of part of the assembly of FIGS. 1 and 2showing an intermediate portion of the screen and the cross-sectionalshape of the side channels;

FIG. 5 is a part sectional side elevation of the upper part of a secondembodiment of an assembly according to the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a part sectional side elevation of a modified form of theassembly according to the invention.

Referringfirst to FIGS. 1 to 4, a roller screen assembly includes aroller 1 which is spring returned in the normal way as is to be foundwith the roller blinds. The roller 1 has trunnions 2 which pass throughslots 3 in brackets 4 attached to a surrounding wall 5 by screws 6. Alsoattached to the brackets 4 is a pelmet board 7 attached by screws 8.

The brackets 4 are provided with tangs '9 which retain coil springs 10which bear upon the trunnions 2 and urge the roller 1 in one directionalongthe slots 3 so as to provide a seal as hereinafter mentioned.

The roller 1 has a flexible glazing screen 11, which will be oftransparent material, and which forms the second glazing screen for thewindow aperture, the existing pane of glass being indicated at 12. Itwill thus be seen that the second glazing screen is in the nature of theblind of a roller blind assembly, the roller 1 being spring returned tothe retracted position of the screen 11 in the normal way. The screen 11may be of plastics or fabric, and when used for double glazing a window,will obviously be transparent. However, if the assembly is used as apartition then the flexible screen 11 may be opaque or translucent.

Between the pelmet board 7 and the existing glass pane 12, a headboard13 is provided and this may take the form of a plastics extrusionscrewed to the window apertures by screws 14 and receiving a sealingmember 15 which may be of felt. This sealing member 15 bears upon theoutermost turn of screen 11 on the roller 1 and the spring 10 urges theroller 1 so that at all times the sealing member makes a sealingengagement with the outer turn of screen.

Provided vertically down each side of the aperture are side channels 16screwed to the aperture wall by screws 17 and these side channels aremore particularly illustrated in FIG. 4. These side channels may beextruded in a plastics material and extend from the headboard 13 to abottom strip 18, more particularly shown in FIG. 3. This bottom strip 18may be extruded in plastics and is fixed by screws 19 to the bottom wall20 of the window aperture. The lower end of the glazing screen 11 isprovided with a retaining slip 21 having a hooked portion 22 whichengages with a similarly hooked portion 23 of the bottom strip 18. Boththe bottom strip and the retaining clip 21 extend the entire width ofthe screen 1 1 and therefore it will be seen that the headboard 13, thebottom strip 18 and the side channels 16 form a frame for the screen 1when in its extended positions. FIGS. 1 and 3 show alternative forms ofretaining clip 21.

A further embodiment of roller screen assembly in accordance with theinvention is illustrated in FIG. 5 in which a roller 24 is springreturned in the normal way as is to be found with roller blinds. Ascreen 25 of transparent material which may be plastics or fabric isattached at 26 to the roller 24 and this attachment may be in accordancewith the inventions disclosed in United Kingdom patent applications Nos.31032/70 or 6502/72.

A headboard 27 is provided which is attached by screws 28 to the uppersurface of the window aperture width of the aperture, thus concealingthe roller 24 from view within the room. I-Iingedly mounted to theheadboard 27 is a sealing plate 29 having a felt pad 30 at one end whichlightly bears upon the outermost turn of the screen 25 on roller 24 andthus provides a seal between the roller 24 and the headboard 27.

In its extended position, the screen 25 lies parallel with the singleglazing 31 of the window, and the lower in the manner indicated in FIG.3, the retaining clip 21 having a hooked portion 22. This retaining clip21 extends the full width of the aperture and the attachment of screen25 to the clip 21 may be in accordance with the proposals of the priorUnited Kingdom Pat. Applications mentioned above. A bottom strip 18 asillustrated in FIG. 3 may be employed so that the hooked portion 22 ofthe retaining clip 21 may engage a hooked portion 23 of the bottom strip18 and retain the screen in its extended condition.

Side channels may again be provided extending vertically down the sidewalls of the aperture, and the vertical edge portions of the screen 25extend into these channels and form a seal therewith. Felt or othersealing strips may be located within these channels so as to form a morepositive seal with the screen 25.

It will be 'appreciated'that the headboard 27, the bot- 7 and provides apelmet extending completely across the edge of screen 25 will befastened to a retaining clip 21 screen 25 when in its extendedcondition. The side channels form a seal with the side portions of thescreen 25; the engagement of the clip 21 with bottom strip 18 forms aseal at the bottom of the screen 25 and the hinged plate 29 closes thegap between roller 24 and the headboard 27.

Also it is a very simple matter to disconnect the hooked portions 22 and23 and merely raise the screen 25 by the return motion of the spring ofroller 24 in much the same manner as with a roller blind.

If desired a ratchet and pawl mechanism may be provided so that thescreen 25 may be retained in any extended position.

With regard to FIG. 6 which shows a slightly modified arrangement, aspring returned roller 32 (as in the previous embodiment) has a screen33 attached thereto, and this screen 33 passes over a secondary roller34 which extends the entire width of the aperture and leads the screen33 into side channels 35. In this embodiment, a sliding plate 36 isprovided which bears upon the screen 33 and closes the gap between thescreen 33 in the neighbourhood of the secondary roller 34 and the topsurface of the aperture. In FIG. 6 the single glazing is indicated at37, a window aperture at 38, and a fastening bracket for the roller at39. In this embodiment, the lower end of screen 33 will be attached to abottom strip as illustrated in FIG. 3 so that a frame is provided whicheffectively closes the aperture 38.

What we claim is:

1. A roller screen assembly for an aperture, comprising:

a spring-return roller having a flexible glazing screen wound thereon;

a headboard adjacent said roller, having a sealing member thereonpositioned to sealingly engage the outer turn of the screen on saidroller;

said roller having coaxial trunnions thereon extending from the endsthereof and into slots at opposite sides of said aperture;

resilient means urging said trunnions and roller along said slots towardsaid sealing means to maintain said screen in contact with said sealingmeans;

the edges of said screen extending slidably into guide channels atopposite sides of said aperture;

a bottom strip fixed to and extending across the lower edge of saidscreen defining a hook means throughout its length; and

a hook shaped lower strip at the bottom of said aperture, engageablewith said hook means of said bottom strip to sealingly hold said screenin extended position.

2. A roller screen assembly as claimed in claim 1, in

which the sealing means comprises a felt pad fixed to the headboard.

1. A roller screen assembly for an aperture, comprising: a spring-return roller having a flexible glazing screen wound thereon; a headboard adjacent said roller, having a sealing member thereon positioned to sealingly engage the outer turn of the screen on said roller; said roller having coaxial trunnions thereon extending from the ends thereof and into slots at opposite sides of said aperture; resilient means urging said trunnions and roller along said slots toward said sealing means to maintain said screen in contact with said sealing means; the edges of said screen extending slidably into guide channels at opposite sides of said aperture; a bottom strip fixed to and extending across the lower edge of said screen defining a hook means throughout its length; and a hook shaped lower strip at the bottom of said aperture, engageable with said hook means of said bottom strip to sealingly hold said screen in extended position.
 2. A roller screen assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which the sealing means comprises a felt pad fixed to the headboard. 